Shadows: the story of Alexis Drake
by ladykeladryofmindelan
Summary: The story of Alexis Drake, a girl in the same year as Harry and his friends. For this story, Cho Chang is in their year. Rating is for safety only. Please R&R. Read on...
1. Chapter 1

_This is the only disclaimer I am going to put. This is a fanfic my friend is writing but she can't be bothered to get her own account so she's using mine. Hope you like, 'cause I did._

_CRASH!_

"Oh, for Merlin's sake –"

_CRASH!_

"Alexis? Harry? Inside, now!"

"Coming, Mrs. Weasley." they chorused. Both brushed themselves off before heading towards Mrs. Weasley, who was at the door beckoning to them.

"Dinner's ready, dears. Do go and –"

_CRASH!_

Alexis could tell that Mrs. Weasley was fighting to keep her temper in check.

"Could you both please go upstairs and fetch the other three?"

"Of course, Mrs. Weasley." replied Alexis, and dragged Harry up the stairs of the Burrow.

_CRASH!_

"What the bloody hell is happening?" yelled Harry, poking his head around the bedroom that he and Ron shared.

Alexis peered in too.

"Well…I'd say that they're gonna be in a lot of trouble if they don't clean that up soon."

On the bed sat Hermione, glancing disapprovingly across the room. Ron was on the floor, looking very dishevelled and perched on a cupboard and purring contentedly was Crookshanks.

"Ah…I'm assuming that he's the problem?" Harry had seen the large cat too.

Ron nodded sullenly, and Hermione tsked.

"I can't get him." explained the fiery-headed boy. "He's been running around for ages, and Hermione wouldn't help."

"Oh, well… we could always ask Mrs. Weasley to help us clean it up."

"Are you mad?" Ron gaped at Harry. "She'll kill me!"

"Uh…"

"Get Draco to do it." sighed Alexis. "It's simpler that way."

"He's not allowed to do magic, same as us!" exclaimed Hermione.

"Yes he is. He's been let off 'cause he's working with Snape and all."

"Oh, yeah."

Flashback

"_What do you want, you filthy blood traitor?"_

"_Don't you dare call me that, Malfoy." Alexis hissed. He looked slightly taken aback at her venom, but regained his composure quickly. _

"_Well that's what you are, right?" _

"_No, but I didn't come here for this." her voice softened. "I know about you, Draco Malfoy. Everything. How you don't want your Dark Mark, how you're scared of your father, and how you've secretly wanted to join the Order ever since you overheard about it at a Death Eater meeting." _

_His reaction was exactly how she thought it would be. _

"_H-how…"_

_She shrugged. _

"_I get…feelings. Weird feelings, and sometimes flashbacks from other people, but only very rarely. I only have to keep a close eye on you to find out everything, even though it took a long time. Three years, actually." _

_He stared at her; she could tell that under his mask of emotions he was fighting an inward battle. _

"_What do you want from me, then?" he asked, finally. _

"_Nothing." she answered. She wasn't sure how Harry, Ron and Hermione would react when they found out about what she was going to do next, but she wanted to do it. "I just want you to trust me. I'm linked with the Order – and I can help you. Make a decision, but don't take more than a week. I do have better things to do than help out unwilling Slytherins."_

"Did I just hear myself mentioned?" Draco walked through the door. "Hey all."

"Hey Draco." they replied, one by one. "Dinner's right about now." added Alexis. "Arrived just in time."

"'Kay. I'll change later, then."

"Um, Draco." said Ron. "Mind helping us clean up the mess?"

Draco raised an eyebrow.

"How did that happen?"

"Blame _him_." replied Ron, pointing at Crookshanks.

"_DON'T_ blame him!" retorted Hermione. "It's not his fault you decided to go chasing after him because he dropped on your head."

"Well then he shouldn't have dropped onto my head in the first place!"

Hermione sighed huffily, but didn't look too ruffled up by his comments.

"Well, let's go downstairs now. Ginny!"

Ginny's head appeared around the corner.

"You called?"

"Time for dinner."

"Right then. Let's go, you lot."

_ Ten minutes later. _

Alexis was scoffing down as much as she could possibly eat, occasionally whacking Draco (who was sitting next to her) for trying to flick food at her.

Ron suddenly choked; Hermione whacked his back.

"Don't eat so fast, you pig!"

Everyone else laughed except Alexis, who was currently shoving a baked potato into her mouth.

"You too." said Hermione to her scoldingly.

"Can't help it." replied Alexis, her voice slightly muffled. "Didn't have lunch today."

"Oh…"

Alexis was only 'out-eaten' by Ron, although she still finished the fastest.

"I'll be upstairs, guys." she said, standing up.

Harry was the only one that answered her.

"Sure. See ya."


	2. Chapter 2

Alexis was in her room when Draco came in.

"Hi." she said shortly, trying to concentrate on her Transfiguration book, bought from Diagon Alley two days ago. "Have a good day?"

She didn't see him cringe, but somehow she could almost feel it.

"When do I ever have good days?"

"Never." she replied, simply.

"Exactly." he groaned. "I'll be glad when school starts."

As she turned from the crisp white pages, Alexis saw a cut on Draco's cheek.

"Why?" she asked, although she already knew the answer. She rummaged around a shelf, trying to find a bandage of some sort.

"Do you know what they were doing today? _Torturing _people, and they loved it! They're like Dementors." he shuddered. "Everyone was just…watching, as if it were a…what do you call it?" he searched for the right word from his Muggle Studies. "A movie."

"M'kay." she put the bandage on his cheek. "At least you get to do magic over the holidays. We don't."

"Do you always have to find a way to boost my ego?"

She kissed his cheek, like they had always done since they'd become friends.

"I try, Draco, I try."

"_What do you want?" she demanded, although the blonde boy was a good couple of inches taller than her. _

"_Not much." he smirked, but she could tell that he wanted to go someplace private. Looking around at her friends, she said, _

"_I'll see you later, guys." _

"_Are you sure, Aly?" asked Hermione suspiciously. _

"_Yep. Definitely." Alexis grinned back at the girl. _

"_Okay then. See you." _

_With a final glance at Harry, Ron and Hermione, Alexis walked out of the Great Hall, Draco behind her. _

"_You took your time." she said, as soon as they were in an empty corridor. "It's been…what, two weeks?" _

"_Yeah, whatever." _

"_So, what do you want to tell me?" she asked coldly, same way she always had ever since first year. _

_He grabbed her arm. She was so surprised that she didn't pull away. _

"_Let go." she said, finally. _

"_I just wanted to accept your little offer." he said through gritted teeth. _

_She amazed herself by smiling at him. And, hesitantly, he smiled back. The first time she'd seen him like that, and the most unimaginable thing on the face of the Earth._

"Go have a shower." she threw some clothes at him. "You're too dirty."

He made a face, but disappeared out of the door nevertheless.

Alexis looked at the now empty doorway.

This really needs to stop, she thought, remembering the shadows under his eyes. Nobody deserves to suffer like that, especially after they've made all that effort to defy the life they were born for.

"Everything alright?" asked a voice from the doorway. She looked up at Ron.

"Yep. Of course. Why wouldn't it be?"

"Oh, well because you're sitting there looking like somebody's died. Are you sure?"

"Don't worry!" she let out a forced laugh. "I told you, nothing's wrong."

He still didn't look convinced, but he didn't do or say anything else either for about ten minutes, while she just sat on the floor, chin propped on her knees.

"Well," he broke the silence with that faltering word, "Um, if you really say so–"

He quickly dropped the subject as Draco strolled in.

"That was quick." commented Alexis, trying to erase the previous conversation from her memory without success. Her face automatically screwed up as she tried.

She didn't see Draco's questioning glance towards Ron, who shrugged, but she saw the curious glance that the blonde then cast her. Alexis decided to ignore it.

"Quick? Aly, you have such a weird sense of time. I've been in there for about fifteen minutes."

She glared at him, and then attempted to mess up his newly combed hair, which he seemed to fuss about quite a lot.

Oh, good, he thought. She isn't all distant anymore. It scares me when she goes like that. She looks like Trelawney.


	3. Chapter 3

_Later that Night_

Alexis tossed around feverishly, unable to sleep. She looked across at Draco, watching as his sides heaved gently.

At least _someone _can go to sleep around here, she thought. I need Sleeping Potion. At this rate, I'll be asleep face-down in my breakfast tomorrow morning.

In a last attempt, she cleared her mind until she could see and imagine nothing but nothingness. She shut her eyes tightly for what seemed like an eternity before deciding that it was no good.

What is it? The question echoed in her mind. Why can't I sleep? This is hell!

She glanced at her wristwatch in the moonlight. It was about two in the morning.

Suddenly, it was like an ice cold hand had gripped her heart. Stabs of fear coursed down her spine, making her shiver.

No, she thought, not fear. Close to fear, but not fear. Apprehension. Something bad is going to happen. Something _very_ bad.

Tiny beads of sweat formed on her forehead. They slowly dripped down her face as she instinctively curled into a ball. It was a deep, dull ache in her chest. Finally it faded away, leaving her frustrated.

She felt like banging her head against the wall. Alexis stared at the ceiling for a couple of minutes before finally drifting into uneasy sleep. She'd probably never been more glad to sleep.

She jerked awake at a jet of water, wetting her sticky face gratefully.

"Hermione?" she asked groggily.

"Morning." she replied cheerfully. "You look dreadful. What time did you sleep last night?"

"Dunno. I was still up at two."

"Don't sleep that late, Aly!"

"Not my fault. I couldn't sleep."

"Well, I've got some great news!" said Hermione. Alexis could tell that Hermione was really excited, because she wasn't acting normal.

"Out with it, then." she said impatiently.

"Oh, we're getting some company!" the brown-haired girl yelled. Alexis cocked an eyebrow.

"That's it? We're getting company?"

"Oh, yeah! She's a girl around our age, and she'll be starting Hogwarts with us! Oh, and she's staying here for the rest of break. Isn't it cool?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." replied Alexis absently, because she wondering whether the apprehension she'd had last night had anything to do with…no, no, it couldn't. After all, what harm could an extra housemate do?

Unless it were Voldemort, she thought, holding back a chuckle as she imagined Voldemort masquerading as a sixteen-year-old girl.

"When's she coming?" asked Draco, whose presence Alexis had failed to notice.

"Um, sometime –" Hermione was cut off by the faint but audible knock on the Weasley's front door. "Oh my gosh!" Hermione fled out the door in barely suppressed anticipation.

Alexis and Draco exchanged glances.

"Right." said the boy. "She's a little over the moon, isn't she?"

"Too much." agreed Alexis.

"Well," Draco stood from his bed, walked over to her and kissed her forehead. "I'll be heading down too, Alex. Haven't had breakfast yet." he laughed. "_And_ I want to meet the new girl. You coming?"

"No thanks." replied Alexis nervously. "I'm not feeling too well at the moment."

"Oh, well then see you later."

"Later, Draco."

She wasn't looking forward to this. For some reason, Alexis hardly ever liked change. Well, unless it was something like the Order winning the war or the time Draco had switched sides. Right now, she was pretty much satisfied with her five group friends, not counting Ginny or Cho Chang (who was Alexis's only Ravenclaw friend apart from perhaps Luna Lovegood).

Five minutes later, Alexis was still on her bed, head resting against the wall and jaw (surprisingly) clenched.

This is absolutely silly, she thought. I'm being stupid and I know it. She evaluated her situation.

Yep, definitely. Since when do people act on pure feeling, even if they've been right before? And since when do I feel apprehensive about a sixteen-year-old girl? I'm going downstairs. I'm crazy.

Don't, some part of her rebelled. You won't like it.

How do I know? She snapped at herself, silly as that was to do. All the same, she didn't shift her position, not even her sore clenched jaw, until she heard footsteps. It turned out to be Harry's footsteps.

"Morning. You've heard?" he asked. She nodded. "Well, I don't like the look of her. The likes of her even having a chance of being in the Order? No way!"

"Y-you don't?" she asked, before scolding herself for acting so jittery.

"See for yourself." he answered, then dragged her onto her feet and steered her out of the room.


	4. Chapter 4

Harry pushed her all the way downstairs, his hands set firmly on her shoulders, before letting her go. By that time Ginny had spotted her, so she had no chance of going back upstairs without being introduced to the new girl.

"I hate you." Alexis muttered to Harry before saying hi to Ginny.

"Good morning to you too." the red-haired girl answered. "C'mon, you should go meet her."

Sandra Harrison was pretty – no doubt about that. She had long, sleek blonde hair which fell to her waist and beautiful chestnut coloured eyes. Her delicate-looking face was probably as close to perfect as a girl could get, as was her figure. Alexis could clearly see that almost any boy would drool over her. Luckily, none of the three that were currently in the room were doing that.

Alexis glanced anxiously over at Draco, hoping he wasn't embarrassing himself or suddenly becoming his cocky old self, but he was seated on the couch with a apple in one hand and a blank expression on his face.

Something definitely didn't feel right about Sandra. Alexis's initial opinion on the girl was that Sandra had much the same personality as Draco used to – full of herself, arrogant, and practically always with a smirk on her face.

Sure enough, that pretty face soon looked her way and smirked at her.

Scrap whatever I thought earlier, Alexis thought, She's _worse_ than how Draco used to be.

Alexis tried to back towards the stairs, but Ginny, who was behind her, pushed her forward.

"Um, hi Sandra." said Alexis uncertainly, then put her hand out. "I'm Alexis."

Sandra stared with clear contempt at the offered hand.

"Um…no thanks Alexis. Sandra Harrison, as you know. You have a last name?"

"Well," she replied quietly, "Not really…it used to be Drake."

"Oh, really? Nice pureblood family you got there." Sandra commented, saying the last part in a whisper. "But they all died ages ago, didn't they?"

She checked her nails.

"Yeah…" Alexis trailed off.

_There were screams. Alexis hid in a corner, praying to Merlin that whoever was currently storming through their house wouldn't find her. _

_She thought that she was going to pass out when two glinting black eyes pass by her hiding place, a hood over their head and their wand out. _

_More screams. Alexis felt like killing herself as she recognized her mother's anguished cry, which was cut off abruptly. _

_She did pass out then. _

_When she woke up, the house was deathly silent. Alexis had learnt that there was no such thing as real silence. If you put your head in your arms and closed your eyes and tried to hear silence, you never could. But this – this was probably the closest anyone could get. _

_She crept around the familiar halls of her house, searching from room to room, and threw up when she found her parents on the floor, still clasped in each other's arms. It was then that she knew that she had to leave. The Ministry would be arriving soon, and none of her family had ever wanted anything to do with them. _

"_I'm sorry." she whispered to the near-silence. "But you're happy now, wherever you are. Even if the Ministry comes they'll burn down the house and take over the land anyway…"_

"_Goodbye." _

_And with that, she ran out of the back door of the house which looked more like a mansion, running to the stable which was just visible nearby. _

"_Oh Merlin…" she said to nobody as she ran. "If they killed him, I'll get them back one day…"_

_To her relief, there was her black colt, only about a month old but very steady for a winged horse. He was already big enough to ride. _

"_I'm lucky you grow fast." she murmured soothingly to him, because he was nervous and trembling. "Good boy, Fury." _

_Fury, she thought. He was nearly all that she had left to her now, unless you could count a two very full and large bank vaults something to care for. There were also a few family heirlooms, such as a pendant with her family crest on it. _

"_Yep, it's just you and me now… don't worry boy, I won't leave, good boy…shh, Fury! They might still be out there, boy." _

_He nickered at her as if he could understand. _

"_Yeah boy, I've only been with you for one month, but I still love you." she crooned, trying to stop him from kicking something. _

_Oh man I sound so sane, don't I? she asked herself sarcastically, tears still rolling down her cheeks. _

_Fury's wings, which were folded at his side, spread expectantly as she got onto him, but she clicked her tongue. _

"_No, Fury. C'mon," she gulped. "Back to the house." _

"_Rox?" she called softly. _

_A house elf peered cautiously around the corner. _

"_Miss Drake!" she exclaimed. _

"_Hi." Alexis managed a tired smile, her tear stained cheeks still wet. "Um, Rox, take everything that you think I'll need and…and use your magic to shrink it. Here." she handed the house elf a Muggle saddle-bag. "Stick it in there. Go." _

_In five minutes the house elf was back. _

"_Here, Miss!" she squeaked. _

"_Thank you." replied Alexis softly. "Everything else, keep it for me. I'll come back someday. And by the way," Alexis handed her an old shirt, "You're free, Rox." _

_The house elf looked up at her gratefully. _

"_Thank you, Miss, but I will stay in your service anyway!" _

"_Well," Alexis this time managed a dry laugh. "Stay here and make sure the Ministry doesn't steal anything. It might be a decade before I come back, but I trust that you're fine with that." _

"_Oh, of course!" _

"_Thanks so much, Rox. Bye." _

"_Goodbye, Miss!" _

_Alexis, going back outside, struggled not to cry. _

"_Here, boy," she whispered to Fury, "Sorry about this." she hefted the saddle-bags onto him, causing Fury to snort in complaint. "Right, well now we can go for a good gallop." _

_She suddenly heard a pop. _

"_They're here." she hissed to Fury. "Ride, boy!"_

"Shame." remarked Sandra. "Awfully good Death Eater fighters they were, too."

Alexis bristled at how casual the girl sounded.

"Nice meeting you then." finished Sandra, dislike flitting briefly across her perfect features.


	5. Chapter 5

"I definitely don't like her." said Alexis to Harry, who nodded, "I bet the others are absolutely smitten, though." she finished glumly.

"Did you see her flirting with Draco?" he asked, disgusted.

"Oh, is somebody jealous now?" she teased.

"Aly…" he said warningly, then attacked her. "First lesson. I am not jealous."

"Oh, yeah!" she answered, "You like Ginny, don't you? Oh, sorry, I forgot!" she clapped her hands over her mouth and let out a girlish gasp.

"Shut up." he said, turning red, "The point is, she's not any potential Order member."

"Yeah. She doesn't even look like she _likes_ using a wand."

"How the others can stand her, much less like her, I don't know."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the incomprehensible chatter that was floating up from downstairs.

"Hey guys!" Hermione squealed.

"Hey Hermione."

"Oh, isn't Sandra just so great?" the words flowed out of Hermione's mouth at an incredible rate. "I mean, she's basically perfect, and pretty, and understanding, and…"

Alexis didn't bother to listen to the rest, not that she could have separated the words enough to be able to understand what Hermione was saying. By the looks of it, neither did Harry.

"Hermione, that's really great," Harry interrupted her in the middle of a _very _long sentence consisting of about twenty 'and's. "But Aly and I were planning on some flying. Talk later?"

Hermione nodded.

"Okay, see you later!" she ran off excitedly to find Ginny.

"Have you ever seen her like that before?" asked Harry, listening to Hermione's footsteps down the hall.

"Oh yeah," laughed Alexis dryly. "The first day when I met her on the train, and she was ranting on about everything that she'd memorized from her textbooks."

Harry cracked a small smile.

"C'mon," he said. "A bit of flying _will_ help."

Alexis nodded. She grabbed her Firebolt, which was leaning against the wall.

"When was the last time you cleaned this?" asked Harry, running a hand over the shiny handle.

"Yesterday." she answered. "When was the last time you cleaned _yours_, Mister Soon-to-be Quidditch Captain?"

"This morning."

"Damn."

"Yeah, well, you better go change."

"Uh, yeah."

She went into the bathroom and quickly changed into her Quidditch robes.

"Quidditch robes?" asked Harry with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, you have your Quidditch robes on too! Besides, I _like_ my Quidditch robes."

He shrugged.

"Whatever. Let's go then."

"Sure." they walked out of the room.

As they passed Hermione, Ginny and Sandra, the latter smirked at Alexis and smiled sickeningly at Harry.

"She makes me want to gag." muttered Alexis.

"Right…"

"Hey Harry, can I tell you something?"

"Course you can."

"Well, last night I couldn't sleep. It was really creepy, like I just had this really bad feeling, and it hurt…it hurt really badly. Then _she_ came this morning and, I know it's stupid and that I shouldn't be freaking out, but I was just wondering whether it…whether it…"

"Whether it had something to do with her?"

"Y-yeah… please tell me that I'm being stupid."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure it'll turn out alright."

"Okay – Oh, hey!" she greeted Draco, who waved back at her.

"You flying too?"

"Yeah."

"Well look at that – we're all in robes."

"I don't like green," said Alexis, "I prefer my house colors."

"Yeah, well what if you were in Slytherin too?"

Alexis grimaced.

"Don't go there. I would have committed suicide or something."

"You'd really take it that far?"

"Well," commented Harry, "If you know her family history, then it's pretty easy to see that she would do anything _not_ to be in Slytherin."

"Yeah I guess." agreed Draco. "So anyway, what about the others? We might have enough for a game."

"The other girls are inside." said Alexis. "And – wait, where's Ron?"

"Oh," said Draco, "I saw him. He's finishing a History of Magic essay. Y'know, one of the ones that were set last term."

"I can't believe we're going to be in seventh year after this term." muttered Harry.

"Yes you can." answered Alexis. "So, can we get going?"

"Of course we can!" said Draco, getting onto his broom and zooming up into the air. "I haven't flown since the beginning of break." he yelled down to them from the sky.

Harry nudged her.

"C'mon, let's go."

In about five seconds they were level with Draco, one on either side of him.

"So, mate." yelled Harry, over the wind in his ears. "What do you think of Sandra?"

"Oh, she's alright. Pretty thing, although I don't want to see anyone like her in the Order anytime soon. That type is useless."

"Me neither."

After that they just dithered around, having races. Alexis wasn't as fast or as good as the boys at that. While she was a Chaser, they were both Seekers for their teams.

Eventually, Draco whined,

"Alex, can we _please_ play with your Snitch?"

She looked at him.

"How did you know that I have a Snitch?"

"I've seen you playing around with it."

"Yeah, whatever." she answered.

When she had first tried out for the Quidditch team, she had gone for Seeker, but ended up as Ravenclaw's top Chaser.

"Here." she said, taking out the Snitch from her robe pocket where her wand was as well. She always kept it with her.

"Where'd you get it, anyway?" asked Harry curiously.

"Now, Mr. Potter, I know what _you're_ thinking." she replied, and his mouth opened. "Quiet. Anyway, I didn't steal it from school, unlike your father did before." the corners of his mouth went up in a slight smile. "It was my birthday present. My last one before my parents died."

"Oh," was his reply, before Draco let the tiny golden ball flit out of sight and they both flew off.

"_Alexis!" _

"_Yeah, mum?" _

"_Wake up!" _

"_Well that's just a nice way to get me out of bed on my birthday, isn't it?" _

_Her mother laughed. _

"_Of course, dear. Now hurry up. I want you in the backyard in half an hour at the most, alright?" _

"_Sure, mum." _

_Fifteen minutes later, the ten-year-old Alexis was out of the house and in the backyard. _

"_Hi dad." she greeted her father. _

"_Morning Alexis. Happy Birthday." _

_Alexis kissed her father's cheek. _

"_Thanks." _

"_You're going to love your presents." _

"_Presents? Dad, you know that I don't need anything." _

"_Except a new sword?" _

"_Sword? Dad! I thought, you know, we didn't /i do i that type of stuff anymore." _

"_Not stuff; medieval Muggle fighting methods!" _

"_David," scolded her mother, "We're not a medieval family." _

"_You have a weird obsession, daddy." laughed Alexis. _

"_I know I do." he answered. "But you can have one anyway." _

"_She'll cut herself." said her mother worriedly. _

"_Don't worry, Anne. It's a family heirloom, anyway, so it's not completely new." _

"_Let me guess; it used to belong to some great-great-great-great-great grandpa of mine or something who was a knight in the Muggle medieval times?" _

_He laughed. _

"_Something like that, Aly." _

"_But anyway," said her mother. "Here's one of your more /i sensible i presents." _

_She whistled. Alexis watched in fascination as, in a flash, a frisky black winged horse galloped to her mother and sniffed. Her mother laughed and pulled out an apple. _

_Her father chuckled. _

"_All yours, Aly. I got you this because your mother wouldn't let me get you a dragon." _

"_A dragon?" she was gaping at him. "You're kidding." _

"_Well, she said that it was not to spoil you, but I don't think she wants a fire-breather in her house." _

"_I hope you're not trying to spoil me." said Alexis honestly. _

"_Don't worry, Aly. I'm not. And neither is your mother. That's the last thing she would do." _

"_I know. So what's his name?" she paused. "Wait, it /i is i as he right?" _

"_Yes, Alexis. He's called Fury." _

"_Fury." she echoed. "I hope you didn't get me anything else." _

_For some reason, she never liked getting presents. _

"_Only one more." laughed her father. "Here you go." _

_He handed her a tiny, golden ball, which looked like a – _

"_A Snitch!" _

"_Hope you like it. You probably do though, seeing as you love Quidditch and all. Seeker, you wanted to be, right?" _

"_Yes, dad. Or a Chaser." _

"_Well, you can have it as your inspiration. Or," he added, "As something to occupy you during your first year at Hogwarts." _

"_Thank you!" she said, and hugged him._

Soon Draco was back, Snitch triumphantly held in his hand.

"Slytherin _does_ have a chance of beating Gryffindor this year!" he yelled excitedly. Alexis rolled her eyes.

"That's only if you beat us, Draco."

"Ravenclaw's _easy_ to beat."

"I'm taking that as an obvious insult."

"That's the one time you get the Snitch fairly, Draco!" yelled Harry, who then grinned. "And you won't be able to do it again, I'm sure."

"I will too."

"Will not."

"Will too."

"Will –"

"Shut up." said Alexis, and checked her watch. "It's around lunch right now. C'mon, before Mrs. Weasley has a fit!"

The boys agreed, and the three flew down to where they could see Ron waiting.

"Hey, Ron." said Alexis. "Finished your essay?"

"Yeah. Finally. Anyway, lunch is up."

They headed inside with him.


	6. Chapter 6

Alexis, Draco and Harry couldn't be bothered to change just yet, since lunch was about to start, so they each took a seat at the Weasley's kitchen table. The others were already in their own seat.

"Oh, there you are!" said Mrs. Weasley. "Dears, are you sure you don't want to change first?"

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley." Alexis assured her. "We're perfectly fine, just hungry."

"If you say so."

Alexis bunched her black hair up into a neat bun.

"It's so hot." she complained to Draco, to annoy him.

"And you want me to do something about it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes!"

He dumped a small glass of cold water over her head.

"Hey!"

He shrugged.

"You said you were hot and that you wanted me to do something about it."

His reply was a glass of water over _his_ head. He looked at her suspiciously, in case she dumped another on him. She stuck her tongue out.

"Now, now." scolded Mrs. Weasley. "No childish behavior at the table!"

Alexis and Draco exchanged glances before digging back into their food. She was aware of Sandra watching her all throughout dinner, looking none too pleased at her conversation with Harry and Draco.

_The Next Morning_

Alexis was up at dawn, restless and unable to go back to sleep. She played a while with the Snitch, letting it whiz around the room. At one point it zoomed around Draco's head, making it look as if he had a halo. She didn't know how long she sat on her bed, staring blankly at the fast-asleep Draco. When there was a soft rap on the door, she got up, surprised, to answer it.

"Hermione?"

"Hey Aly."

"What are you doing up so early?"

"Um…Aly, it's seven."

"Oh." she said. She'd forgotten that that was Hermione's waking time.

Hermione sighed.

"You'd better help me wake the boys up."

"What? Why so early?"

Hermione sighed again, impatiently.

"Charlie's coming over today, remember? Alexis! Don't tell me you forgot! Ron's only been going on about it for the past two weeks!"

"I forgot." groaned Alexis. "Damn."

There was a tap at the window. Alexis looked up and saw an owl. Letting it in, she took the letter from it.

_Dear Alexis, _

_I'm bringing Fred and George today with me. I dropped by their place last night and they decided they were coming home instead of staying at the shop like they usually do. Hope you don't mind, because they'll be sleeping in their old room, which I think is the one that you're sharing with Draco. Get ready; we'll be there by nine or earlier. _

_Love, Charlie._

"Hermione!" she yelled. "Fred and George are coming too!"

"Okay! I'll tell Mrs. Weasley. You try getting the boys up!"

"Sure thing!"

That proved to be more difficult than it seemed. Fifteen minutes later, Harry was the only person up, and that was because he'd slept early the night before.

"Err, well, hope you don't mind if you wake Ron up instead. Draco hasn't budged an inch." Alexis explained.

"No problem."

She let out an audible cough.

"It's harder than you think."

"Alright." he replied with a raised eyebrow, before Alexis went out of the room and shut the door behind her.

"Draco!" she shook his shoulder hard, but he didn't nothing but roll over.

"Wish I could do magic right now." Alexis muttered, before walking out of their room.

When she came back, she was holding a cup of water.

"This should wake him up for good."

She poured the whole thing over his head.

"I'm done!" Alexis yelled into Harry and Ron's room happily.

"Wow," grumbled Harry, poking a still sleeping Ron, "You're really good at this."

Alexis rolled her eyes.

"Just use water." she said.

_It had started to rain, but Alexis didn't stop. Fury's hooves were pounding over the ground. Her parents' estate was huge, but she still knew all of it. She barely glanced at the tree that she and her brother had always used to climb up. _

_He killed him. He killed my brother, and my mother, and my father. There's going to be blood shed for this._

_Fury was working up a hard sweat, even with the rain showering steadily down. Alexis let him slow his pace just a little. After all, it wasn't his fault that her family had died. _

"_Don't worry, boy," she said quietly. "I'll let you rest soon." _

_He raised his head a bit higher and nickered. _

_Ten minutes later, she stopped, stroking the winged horse affectionately. _

"_Guess I don't know what to do from here on." _

_Fury spread his wings open and closed them over her. _

"_Thanks." she said, sure that, somehow, he'd understand._

Everyone was now seated someplace or other near the fireplace, which currently had no fire in it. Draco, Alexis and Harry were on a couch, Ron was on his own armchair and the other girls were giggling on the floor (with the exception of Hermione, who was buried in a textbook).

"Okay…" Alexis was edging away from Draco and closer to Harry. "_Not_ a good idea to sit next to you, Draco."

"Of course its not. You never know when I might have a glass of water with me."

"Err…right…y'know, that doesn't sound like the best weapon."

"What's a better one then, that big heavy rusty sword you carry around with you?"

She glared at him.

"It's not rusty, I don't carry it everywhere, and for you information, smartas, my dad gave it to me!"

"Oh…" he knew what _that_ meant. One, it was a touchy subject and two, the conversation was over and it was time to start a new one.

"Well then… I might just…go the kitchen now…kinda thirsty."

Alexis stared at him.

"Oh no you don't…I am not getting wet Draco…Draco don't you dare go into that kitchen!"

He went in anyway and came out later with a glass of water, which was exactly what Alexis had been expecting.

"Don't you dare, Draco…"

He held up his hands comically. Harry started to laugh.

"Looks like one of those movies." he commented. "Alexis, put the gun down."

"That was lame, Harry. Really, really lame."

"Well thank you."

Draco downed the water, and Alexis sighed in relief.

"Thank you! I didn't want to get wet just yet today…"

There was a knock on the door. Ron sprang up. Alexis rolled her eyes.

"Sheesh, Ron, calm down!"

"Ron," called Mrs. Weasley, looking up from her knitting, "Tell them to get their trunks upstairs first."

"Yeah."

Alexis moved to get up, but Draco pulled her closer to him.

"Stay."

"I'm not a dog, Draco."

"Well anyway, don't move anywhere."

"Think you're gonna stop me?"

"No, but that's not the point."

"They're here a bit early." It was only 8:30am.

"Yep, but who cares."

"Hey everyone! Missed me?" Charlie popped his head around the corner.

"Charlie." scolded Mrs Weasley.

"Yeah, _Charlie_." teased Alexis, squirming from Draco's tight hold. "Keep that cocky head to yourself."

"Hey, Alexis! How'd you like to do a favour for me?"

"Depends." she replied suspiciously.

"Depends? Oh just you wait. I bet you'll want to."

She shrugged.

"Sounds good. Maybe later. Ow, Draco!"

"Stop squirming, Alex."

"You don't have to _poke_ me then, do you?"

"Umm…" he paused. "Yes."

"Well, sorry to interrupt you guys," laughed Charlie, "But I'm off to bed. See you later."

Without any further explanation he trudged up the stairs.

"You can sleep on Ron's bed for the time being!" Mrs. Weasley called after him.

"Alright. Thanks, mum!"

Fred and George appeared.

"He didn't get much sleep last night." they explained.

"Really?" asked Hermione curiously. "Why ever not?"

Fred looked sheepishly at her.

"We were testing some of our new products." he admitted, lowering his voice.

"Really?" asked Alexis. "What kind of products are you up to now?"

He grinned before launching into a list of items designed to get you out of class.

"So let me guess." said Draco, after Fred had finished. "One of them exploded or something?"

"Yep!" replied George, sounding like a little kid. "Which is why Charlie didn't get any sleep last night. We made him help clean up too."

Alexis shook her head while laughing with the others.

"So," she said, "How do you guys wanna spend the rest of the day? It's all ours."

"Flying!" yelled Harry, Ron and Draco at the same time. Hermione and Alexis stared.

"Is that all you lot ever think about?" asked Ginny. "Flying, Quidditch, flying, Quidditch, flying and more Quidditch?"

"Yeah." said Draco. He pulled her up. "And you're coming too."

"I don't wanna go anywhere. Can't this wait till later?"

"Nope."

"Well damn you." she replied before scrambling over to Harry. "Please, Harry, tell me I don't have to fly!"

"Okay." he agreed. She hugged him.

"Thanks! You're nice…unlike _some_ people." she stuck her tongue out at Draco.


	7. Chapter 7

"Well…" said Alexis. She turned to Fred and George. "What's this favour meant to be?"

They exchanged glances.

"We're not allowed to tell." replied George.

"We promised Charlie." added Fred.

She crossed her arms in frustration.

"Fine. Be that way."

"Ask Charlie when he wakes up." said George. "He'll be down for dinner. Didn't eat last night either."

As Hermione began to scold them, Alexis, Draco, Harry and Ron went upstairs.

"It's so boring!" exclaimed Ron, flopping onto his bed.

"Well why don't you drag Hermione up here and have a nice little make-out session with her?" asked Draco, grinning wickedly. Ron turned as red as his hair, if that was even possible.

"Yeah!" said Alexis, winking at Draco. "Harry can bring Ginny up too!"

She was knocked over as soon as the words left her mouth.

"Well then," said Harry, "Ron and I will go downstairs…and you two can have your little love seat right here." he finished, patting Ron's bed. Ron screwed up his face.

"Gross! Do it on Harry's bed, if you have to."

Draco and Alexis were edging away from each other.

"Err…scrap that idea." said Alexis, pale cheeks flushing. "Let's do something else…"

_By dawn Alexis was back in the saddle, and in half an hour she was off her parent's (now her) property. _

"_Woah," she called, as Fury suddenly stopped short. "What is it?" _

_He shook his black head and spread his wings in agitation. Alexis clicked her tongue, but Fury still didn't move. She froze when she heard footsteps. _

_In one moment, Fury had flung her off his back and there was a sickening thud as her head hit a tree._

It was dinner time. Even though the table was more crowded than usual, everyone was having a good time with the exception of Charlie, who was still feeling a bit sleepy. Alexis wasn't exactly feeling hungry, but she _was_ trying to dodge bits of food sent her way by Draco. She felt brilliant. The afternoon had just been lazing about with the boys, listening to the other three girls' endless chatter. She'd even managed to forget Sandra for a while, who had been attempting to start a conversation with Draco, throwing him looks which she didn't want to decipher and occasionally tugging on his arm. If Alexis had been on better terms with the girl instead of their instant dislike (which was for pretty much no reason, just instinct), she might have advised she leave the guy to his lazy afternoon. In her opinion, he'd need his break. If she and the others weren't doing any kind of work, why should he?

Alexis felt oddly comfortable leaning against Draco, him having finished his dinner and food flicking and now in conversation with her. Of course, it didn't mean anything. It was practically against her personal rules to mean anything.

Well of course, she thought. I can't let some stupid schoolgirl crush ruin our friendship. That's stupid. Even if I don't want to be just friends… But obviously I do.

She had had a crush on him twice, once when their friendship first started and once only a few weeks ago.

_Yeah, and obviously my feelings are going haywire… oh well, I'll probably forget all about him when I do fall in love…_

Although she didn't think that that was likely to happen, because the few relationships that she had had been destroyed completely by her studies (she wasn't in Ravenclaw for nothing). Oh well, it was always worth trying anyway. Any thoughts that she might have wanted to ponder on after that were sent scurrying away into the dark corners of her mind, because suddenly Charlie got up, announced that he was done, and motioned to Alexis to follow him outside.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Mrs. Weasley. "It's freezing outside!"

"We won't be long." Charlie assured her.

Mrs. Weasley still looked sceptical, but made no move to stop them as they went outside.

"So…this is about the favour right?" asked Alexis.

He nodded.

"Then why are we," she waved her arm around, "Out here?"

"Ok, well, I have to ask you to take care of something for me…"

"Yes? Get on with it!"

She followed him to the Weasleys' broom shed.

"Um, Charlie, there are spiders in there…"

She could hear his laugh.

"Aly, I'm not Ron, you know."

"Yeah, but still…" she didn't finished her sentence as he came back out with a large wooden crate in tow.

_Thump_

"Charlie…what's in there?"

He started to yank the lid off.

"Don't worry. You'll find out soon."

It started to shake.

"Okay," said Alexis uncertainly, "Now is when I start to get nervous."

He didn't reply. With one final vicious wrench, the lid of the crate came off.


	8. Chapter 8

She froze. There, stretching itself and turning its two sky blue eyes towards her was a dragon, outline barely visible against the night.

"Oh Merlin," she gasped. "Is that a – a –" she stopped herself. Of course it was!

"Yep." said Charlie, "A dragon." he caressed its tiny black head. "Are you prepared to take care of it for me?"

How could she say no?

"Of course! You know me…"

Embarrassing as it was, tears welled up in her eyes. She silently thanked the darkness. The dragon reminded her of seeing Fury for the first time – slightly awkward, but absolutely beautiful.

_When she came to, the first thing she felt was confused and her first thought was about where Fury was. _

_The next thing that happened was that she sat up, felt a throbbing pain in her head almost immediately, and lay back down. _

"_You're up?" asked an unfamiliar voice. Alexis opened her eyes this time. _

"_W-where am I?" she asked, upon seeing white walls. White. The white that was the complete opposite of Fury. His image whirled around in her head. _

"_You're safe, dear. That's what matters." _

"_Fury? Where's Fury?" _

"_Fury? What on earth would that be?" Alexis could see the nurse now; she looked no older than twenty, black-haired and pale-skinned. _

"_Fury." Alexis repeated. "He-he's a winged horse, black, only about a month old." _

"_I don't know." said the nurse, still looking confused. "One of the Aurors found you knocked out, dear, I don't know anything else." _

_She was ready to faint. Death Eaters; he had thrown her off because he could hear Death Eaters, she was sure of that. _

_ /i This can't be happening. It just can't. He was all I had left… i _

"_Are you all right? You're a tad bit pale, dear." _

"_It's Alexis." she replied. "I-I think I'm alright. May I leave, though? That is…I am in St. Mungo's, right?" _

"_You can leave after a check-up." the nurse assured her. "And yes, Alexis, you're in St. Mungo." _

_In another half an hour she was in Diagon Alley. She'd been here before, with Mark…_

"_Oh, heavens, are you all right?" a kind voice asked at her side. _

_Alexis spun around, alarmed, but quickly calmed down. Standing in front of her was a short, plump woman with fiery red hair. Behind her were three boys and a little girl. _

"_Sorry to frighten you, love, but you looked a bit lost." _

_It suddenly dawned on Alexis that she had no place to live. Of course, she had no wand, but she did have the saddle-bag which Fury had apparently dropped. _

_But he's lost or most likely dead now…_

"_I am." she replied quietly. This woman seemed kind enough, and maybe Alexis could get some help from her. "Could you help me? I don't have a home." _

_The woman looked horrified. _

"_Of course, of course! We have room at our place; you can come live with us! I'm Molly Weasley, just call me Mrs. Weasley, and this is Fred, George, Ron and Ginny." _

_With four children already Alexis wondered how big their house must be. _

"_Thank you Mrs. Weasley. I have money; I can pay for anything." _

_Her saddle-bag, looking silly in her arms, was dropped to the floor. Alexis searched in it for exactly what she needed; the key to her bank vault at Gringott's. _

"_Oh, love, you needn't –"_

_But Alexis wasn't going to let a woman with four children waste any money on her._

"_My name's Alexis." she interrupted Mrs. Weasley. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Weasley." _

_She looked a bit flustered. _

"_How old are you, Alexis?" _

"_I turned eleven last month." Alexis told her. "I'm going to Hogwarts this year." _

"_Oh, well so are Fred, George and Ron here. Do you need books?" _

"_I do. I just need to go to Gringott's." _

"_Of course, Alexis dear. We were just heading that way now." _

_Alexis followed the boy she knew now as Ron. He looked at her and gave her a friendly wave, which she gladly returned. She had a good feeling about this. _

When they reached Alexis's room, Charlie dropped the dragon gently onto the floor.

It was black, with two mystifying blue eyes. Alexis could see that it was still quite young, although it was clear that even at adult size, it would never match any of its relatives. Two slender wings were folded neatly onto her back. She had a near perfect build, agile, quick and sleek. Strong hindquarters and forepaws had silver claws protruding from their ends, and looked sharper than a sword.

She drew a breath. Surely this couldn't be happening? But oh, it was.

"What's her name?"

"Catalyst." Charlie replied, keeping an eye fondly on the dragon. "There's no name for this type of dragon, Alexis. At least, not that I know of. I only know a few things about her from her mother. She'll grow to about as large as a hippogriff when she's on all fours, and by adulthood she'll be able to change her colour from black to silver whenever she wants to. She can produce both harmless and harmful flames, depending on what she wants, and also flame that burns and flame that doesn't burn things."

Alexis tickled Catalyst's muzzle; the dragon growled softly.

"Don't worry about her diet," Charlie was saying. "She eats practically anything, even some poisonous stuff, but I wouldn't try to find out if I were you."

"I won't." Alexis smiled, thinking of Fury…why did she have to remember him now, of all times?

"Good. Well, you can go introduce everyone to our newest housemate."

"Hey – wait a minute. Won't your mum freak?"

"No. Fred and George have taken care of that."

As if on cue, the twins poked their heads into the room.

"Oi – oh, you showed her?" asked Fred.

"Yeah." replied Charlie.

"Eh, well, we were listening in. Anyway," he hurried on, avoiding Charlie's glare. "Yeah, Aly, we've got mum covered. We promised we'd be responsible for the little girl; isn't that right?"

George winked at the dragon.

"Responsible?" Alexis couldn't believe her ears. "Right, you two, what have you done with the real Fred and George? 'Responsibility' is _not_ a word in their vocabulary."

"Well," George was looking slightly offended. "We can change, can't we?"

Alexis scoffed with Charlie.

"I highly doubt that, boys."


	9. Chapter 9

Charlie opened the door to Harry and Ron's room, went inside and shut it again. Fred and George went off to the attic to test out some of their new products.

The dragon, who Alexis had already nicknamed Cat, crawled onto her shoulder; indeed, she was the size a cat.

"Wow," said Alexis. "You're so light for your size…And you're so much like Fury…"

Charlie had told her that Cat would mature fast; by the end of the term (and the end of the school year) the dragon would have reached adulthood already.

Alexis walked down the stairs; Cat was making soft cooing sounds.

"You sound like a bird." she told the dragon. Cat ignored her, peering curiously at the others seated around the fire, elegant muzzle sniffing the scent coming from the fireplace. "Like it, don't you? Fire-breather." she chuckled sadly at a memory of her dad.

"Hey everyone." Alexis took a seat next to Draco. She seemed to like leaning on his shoulder a lot these days.

"H – What in the name of Merlin is that!" exclaimed Harry. Catalyst growled like a tiger. Alexis scratched the dragon's chin again.

"Shh… you make a lot of sound for a youngster…your relatives aren't as noisy as this, just remember not to wake Charlie up." she warned.

"Aly…" said Harry, slightly impatiently. "What _is_ that?"

"What does it look like? It's a dragon. You should know, Harry, you've seen one."

"It's tiny!"

"No it isn't."

"I don't know what possessed Charlie to give it to you." Mrs. Weasley bustled in from the kitchen. "But I hope he had a good reason."

"It's _hers_?" echoed Sandra from the corner. "Why did _she_ get it?"

Because the whole world _doesn't_ revolve around you, thought Alexis irritably.

"Sandra," said Ginny patiently, "Aly has a huge obsession with dragons, probably since she ever knew about them."

"Yeah," agreed Hermione, "I'm surprised she didn't get one _before _now. She even has that necklace thing with a dragon on it."

"Mione," said Alexis teasingly, "It's a _family crest_. So you _don't_ know everything!"

Hermione laughed. Alexis looked to see Catalyst sniffing Draco's outstretched fingers.

"You can smell him all you like," she warned. "Just don't go biting his fingers off." Cat bared her teeth in a dragon grin, rows of needle-sharp teeth revealing themselves.

"Those look nasty." commented Draco.

"Must be." answered Alexis absently, transfixed by the black dragon now on her lap. "And don't you dare exercise those teeth more than you need to!"

Her answer was a whine.

"It's sooo cute!" squealed Sandra, eyeing Cat with envy. "How much did it cost?"

Alexis stared.

"How much did she _cost_?" said Hermione. "Sandra, you can't buy them from a shop! Charlie probably transported it here from Romania!"

"Right you are, Miss. Know-it-all!" announced Fred, marching down the stairs with a box in his hands.

"Finished so fast?" asked Alexis suspiciously, eyeing the box.

"Yep!" answered George, trailing after his twin. "Who's up for some testing?"

Cat glanced at the two boys curiously, jumping up and launching into flight awkwardly.

"Back here. Now." ordered Alexis sharply, "You're not allowed to trial their products. Besides, they're not dragon tested."

"Yeah," agreed Draco, "And you never know, you might turn purple. _That_ would not be pretty."

Cat made a whuffling sound and proceeded to sniff Draco's hair.

"You shouldn't do _that_ either." said Alexis. "He uses so many hair products; I'll be surprised if his hair doesn't fall out one day."

Cat chortled and went to sleep promptly in Alexis's lap.

"Good thing she's not heavy." commented Draco, unexpectedly leaning over and kissing her cheek. "This really made your day, huh?"

"Hell yeah." she replied nervously. What's wrong with me? she thought, feeling hotter by the second. This never happened before…well, except for when I had a crush on him, she laughed to herself. I would blush whenever he even looked at me. She managed to keep her blushing under control and sit quietly. Then a thought occurred to her.

"Harry," she said, tapping him on the nose. "We're going back to school in two days."

_Alexis had settled well at the Burrow. Everyone treated her as a part of their family, which she was grateful for, since she had lapsed a couple of times into depression. She wondered if this was how the great Harry Potter felt, the Harry Potter that had survived Voldemort with only a scar and was currently missing from the wizarding world, said to be living with his Muggle relatives. Alexis had no contempt whatsoever for Muggles, but she wondered if Harry even knew that a wizarding world existed. _

"_Heya Aly, dinner time!" called Fred. Wait that was Fred, right..? Oh well. _

"_So, are you excited about tomorrow? Your first day at school?" asked Mrs. Weasley as Alexis took a seat at the table. _

"_Hm? Oh, yeah, of course I am!" _

"_Me too." said Ron through all the food in his mouth. Alexis glanced disapprovingly at him. _

"_So what house you d'you want to get into?" she asked him. _

"_Gryffindor." he replied. "I don't know if I will, though. Hope I do." _

"_You'll do fine, dear." Mrs. Weasley assured her son. "So will you, Alexis." _

"_Thanks, Mrs. Weasley." said Alexis through a piece of chicken. _

Hermione leapt up.

"Merlin! I forgot! C'mon Aly, let's get upstairs and pack!"

"Wait right there." Draco put a hand on her shoulder (at which she felt uncomfortable). "You have two days to pack and you're deciding to do it now?"

"You're forgetting, o blonde one; I'm not in Ravenclaw for nothing."

He let go of her shoulder, muttering something inaudible. Alexis tsked jokingly.

"Draco, don't talk to yourself, it's the first sign of madness! Don't let your insane side take over!" she called as Hermione dragged her up the stairs.


End file.
